Turkey should seek the “broadest possible national consensus” in its constitutional amendments given the narrow win for the yes campaign, the European Commission has said.

Unofficial results showed that 51.3% of Turks approved changes to their constitution in the referendum, handing President Erdoğan sweeping new powers.

“In view of the close referendum result and the far-reaching implications of the constitutional amendments, we also call on the Turkish authorities to seek the broadest possible national consensus in their implementation,” the commission said.

Electoral board chief says yes has won

Unofficial results show that Turks have approved changes to their constitution, handing President Erdoğan sweeping new powers in Sunday’s referendum, the head of the country’s high electoral board (YSK) has said.

The yes campaign won 1.25 million more votes than the no campaign and with only about 600,000 votes still to be counted that meant the changes had been approved, YSK chairman Sadi Güven told a news conference in Ankara.

He said the YSK had decided to consider unstamped ballots as valid unless they were proved to be fraudulent, after a high number of complaints – including one from the ruling AK Party – that its officials had failed to stamp some ballot papers.

The no campaign said the last-minute decision raises questions about the validity of the vote. But Güven said the decision was taken before results were entered into the system, and that members of the AKP and the main opposition were present at almost all polling stations and signed off on reports.